A Garfield teen yesterday was ordered to stand trial in the fatal shooting this month of a well-known athlete during a robbery.

Anton Patterson, 17, who would have been a junior this fall at Peabody High School, was held without bail in the Allegheny County Jail on homicide charges.

He is accused of the fatal shooting late Aug. 5 of Anthony Rivers, a former Oliver High School basketball star who went on to lead Penn State-McKeesport's team to a conference title in 2006. He graduated last year.

Mr. Rivers, 26, of Lawrenceville, was shot in the head around midnight as he stood outside the home of a female friend at Columbo Street and North Atlantic Avenue in Garfield.

The young woman testified at a preliminary hearing yesterday that she and Mr. Rivers were approached by two suspects, one wearing dark clothing and the other, the gunman, who wore a burgundy hoodie and a surgical mask over his nose and mouth.

The witness said Mr. Rivers did not resist when one of the suspects demanded that he give them his gold chain.

As the suspect reached to take the jewelry, the gunman fired one round that struck Mr. Rivers in the left side of the head and exited the right.

The witness testified under cross-examination that the identity of the shooter came to her after she recalled events immediately after the shooting. She said the portion of his face that was visible reminded her of a teen she had seen frequently in the neighborhood.

Mr. Patterson's home was about a block from the crime scene.

The witness said a woman, later identified as Mr. Patterson's mother, heard the gunshot and came running toward the scene.

The witness quoted Mr. Patterson's mother, Kathy Fisher, 37, as mistakenly yelling, "Tony! They shot my son!"

The witness also picked Mr. Patterson's photo from a Peabody High School yearbook.

Mr. Patterson was arrested a day after the shooting. The second suspect had not been identified or arrested yesterday, police said.

Defense attorney James M. Ecker argued after the hearing that the witness's identification was not enough to order a trial for his client.

"Based on what I've heard, the only identification was a woman yelling, 'Tony.' It was dark. There was only one streetlight. She only saw him out of the corner of her eye for a second, and his face was half-covered," Mr. Ecker argued, asking that the charges be dismissed.

Assistant District Attorney Lisa Pellegrini countered that the witness was certain of her identification and that she recognized him from the neighborhood.

District Judge Dennis Joyce said that was enough to order Mr. Patterson to trial on charges of homicide and possession of a firearm by a minor.

He already had been on house arrest following his February arrest in the Strip District on gun charges.